This invention generally pertains to the game of bingo. More specifically, the present invention relates to a side game which can be played in connection with a regular bingo game.
The invention is particularly applicable to a playing card and a method for playing a line game in connection with a regular bingo game. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the invention has broader applications and may also be adapted for use in many other types of ancillary games to a normal bingo game or other games such as Lotto, or the like.
Auxillary games played alongside of a normal bingo game are known. One such game is based on the configuration of a bingo "flash" board, which has lighted numbers that indicate the bingo balls that have been previously picked. As is well known, in a bingo flash board the numbers 1-15 are positioned in a first row associated with the letter "B", the numbers 16-30 are positioned in a second row and asociated with the letter "I", and so on, up to the numbers 61-75, which are associated with the letter "O". Also, the numbers 1, 16, 31, 46, and 61 are located in a first column adjacent the word "BINGO" with the numbers 2, 17, 32, 47, and 62 being located in a second column adjacent the first column, and so on for 15 columns. Thus, a grid of five rows (of fifteen numbers each) and fifteen columns (of five numbers each) is provided for the flash board. The grid accommodates the numbers 1-75. In the known game, which is called a bingo line game, the player whose particular vertical line is first illuminated on the bingo flash board would be the winner.
Although such a game is known, it has been played only as an unofficial side game either through a bookmaker or through a group of players acting as their own bookmakers. In both instances, the players would merely pick one of the numbers 1 to 15. The winning player would be the one who had chosen the first number in the completely illuminated column. No such officially recognized bingo line games have yet been played and there is no token available for playing such a game.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a new and improved token for playing such a bingo line game as well as methods for playing such a game which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.